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Health needs assessment and the ecology of care: a research note
Insights
This project refined health needs assessment criteria for Plunket nurses, improving child and family health promotion. Standardized data collection enhances clinical practice and child health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Child Health
- Public Health Nursing
- Health Promotion
Background:
- The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society provides child and family health promotion services nationwide.
- Services are delivered by qualified nurses, community workers, and volunteers, including home visiting.
- The context is universal health care and the Ministry of Health's Well-Child Tamariki Ora program.
Purpose of the Study:
- To verify and refine health needs assessment criteria for nurses.
- To support the ongoing development of child and family health promotion practice.
- To enhance the assessment of health needs at a family level for improved child health outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Participatory action research involving child and family health nurses (Plunket nurses).
- Focus on health promotion for apparently well children and their families.
- Development and refinement of health needs assessment criteria.
Main Results:
- Identification of a series of health needs assessment criteria.
- Direction for further development of nursing practice.
- Incorporation of four major concepts into the 2000 revision of the Plunket Health Record.
Conclusions:
- Standardized data collection in health needs assessment can lead to more explicit identification of interventions.
- The project has the potential to significantly improve clinical practice in child and family health promotion.
- Effective health needs assessment is crucial for improving child health outcomes in New Zealand.
Abstract:
A Health Needs Assessment project was undertaken in 1999 for The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society (Inc.), a voluntary community organisation that provides child and family health promotion to 50,000 new babies each year nationwide. Specially qualified registered nurses, community workers and volunteers deliver the service that includes home visiting as part of universal health care. The aims were to verify and refine criteria for health needs assessment by nurses for the ongoing development of practice. Methods used enabled participatory action by child and family health nurses (Plunket nurses). The context was health promotion for apparently well children and their families as part of the Ministry of Health universal Well-Child Tamariki Ora program. The results included identification of a series of health needs assessment criteria, and direction to further develop practice. As a result of the project, it was possible to incorporate the four major concepts in the 2000 revision of the Plunket Health Record. The challenge for child and family health promotion in New Zealand is to assess health need at a family level with the focus on improving child health outcomes. Nurses who use standard data collection items to assess health needs are also likely to identify subsequent interventions more explicitly. Therefore the main benefit of the project is the potential to improve clinical practice.